if I'm left staring at the screen wondering why they're all flocking, I'm missing the potential impact of the scared little girl and being snapped out of the story.

I don't really consider that a "nit." It's a question about the way the story is being told.

To me, a nit is more like, being distracted by Rebecca's hair or why they took a guy to Cedars or why is Web writing with a yellow pen. YNMV.

What I am wondering is, is the show so infested with nits that the great haircut doesn't matter because we're too busy scratching the bastards?

Not for me. The characters are very compelling to me and I haven't really seen this story being told before. Despite all the many comparisons to other cop procedurals and Silence of the Lambs and LA Confidential - this is really Minearverse stuff. The only parallels I've seen were in the darker Angel eps where Wesley was kidnapping babies and keeping people in cages.

What I am wondering is, is the show so infested with nits that the great haircut doesn't matter because we're too busy scratching the bastards?

Are people saying the show is bad because of the nits? That they can't enjoy the show because of the nits?

Everyone has their threshold that balances effect/potential/errors and what they think is good, and what they think is enjoyable.

I'm obviously not reading as much viewer reaction as you are ... but people like to pick nits. And people like to gush. Not always the same people, but there it is.

I can't harsh on someone because they don't think the themes are being expressed well, or that the themes are boring. That's just what they think.

Web is writing with a yellow pen? Web would never write with a yellow pen!!

phenomenally frustrated with the nit picks

I think that nitpicking is a lot harder to justify in an avowedly unreal world, like a world that has vampires. In the first 5-10 episodes, you literally can't nitpick (except for internal consistency), and have to sit back and wait for the rules to be expounded to you.

Whereas, in a TV show that takes place at least nominally in the real world, you've got expectations. I remember weeks of ranting, in the first season of 24, about the logic-mistakes and gross misrepresentations of CIA procedures. (Including my own.) Then after a while, it became clear that this wasn't a real world, and what the rules of this not-quite-real world were.

On a TV show that involves the FBI, I begin with the expectation of fulfilling, at least nominally, the standards of FBI procedure. After a while I may become able to forgive the show for not obeying a pre-existing set of rules, but I can't come to that point until I'm clear whether the rule-difference is intentional or just a set of sloppy mistakes.

So, the nitpicking is to be expected, I would think.

I don't really consider that a "nit."

It was the one that Allyson cited, though. If Allyson's pissed about people complaining about pen colours or hairstyles, then I take most of it back. That's weird and annoying.

It was the one that Allyson cited, though.

No, I know. I'm just not sure I agree with her that it's a nit.

If Allyson's pissed about people complaining about pen colours or hairstyles, then I take most of it back. That's weird and annoying.

Yeah. One of these days, she's gonna turn around and slug me.

So, no one knows the song when Marty's breaking into the VCU?

[For me, the themes weigh more than whether all four of them would be at the front door or spread out.]

Can't do the quoting-ness of it all, but I heartedly agree with Allyson. Even if there are things that any number of us would like to see or to change, this show is all about - I think Tim said - the moments. Who cares if they all went to the door at the same time? I just thought that looked really cool. Four different people, four different approaches to the door and four different attitudes to what might be on the other side. For me, that moment was as much about four people who, despite their histories and ideals, come together as a single functioning unit. Whether that is just solid teamwork or for some devil-y, Web-benefiting purpose has yet to be seen. For me, that is one of the many moments I'm coming back for.

On a TV show that involves the FBI, I begin with the expectation of fulfilling, at least nominally, the standards of FBI procedure.

I admit I don't know the real FBI standards. My FBI knowledge comes from The X-Files and Profiler, and the like (why am I coming up so dry on other shows?). I have never had a bar of reality set for FBI on TV.

Her post doesn't cite a specific nit.

You're not counting "whether all four of them would be at the front door or spread out" as a citation, or as a nit?